Built for a world where
privacy is not optional
Private By Design is a London-based digital advertising agency with a single conviction: publishers, advertisers, and the people who use their sites all deserve better than the surveillance economy that has defined online advertising for two decades.
The problem with modern advertising
The digital advertising industry grew up fast and grew up ugly. In the race to connect advertisers with audiences, the dominant model became mass surveillance - tracking users across every site they visit, building detailed profiles of their behaviour, and auctioning that data to the highest bidder in real time.
For niche and independent publishers, this created a perfect storm. Too small for big networks to care about. Too specialist to fit the targeting categories programmatic was built around. And suddenly facing GDPR and UK PECR enforcement with no clear path forward.
Many were also rejected not for poor quality, but because automated network policies flagged their content as 'risky' - often sites with user-generated material, curated media, or content that touched copyright grey areas. A blanket rejection where a proper assessment would have found a perfectly good advertising opportunity.
That is the problem Private By Design was founded to solve.
Who we are
We are a small, specialist team operating from London. We work closely with a carefully selected roster of publishers - giving each one the attention and expertise that the big networks simply cannot provide.
Our founder Kevin spent years inside the ad tech industry watching quality publishers get squeezed out by a system designed for scale rather than quality. He built Private By Design to be the agency he wished had existed: one that understood niche content, took a human approach to risk assessment, and put long-term publisher health above short-term revenue extraction.
Lenny manages our ongoing publisher and advertiser relationships. Eli identifies and onboards the new publishers who join our ecosystem - including those operating in content areas that mainstream networks decline on sight. Together we bring expertise in advertising technology, data privacy law, search engine optimisation, and audience development.
Our approach to GDPR
GDPR compliance is the foundation of everything we do. We only work with advertising partners who meet our privacy standards. Every publisher undergoes a compliance audit before we place a single ad. We do not work with advertisers who rely on third-party cookie tracking, illegal data brokers, or deceptive consent flows.
UK PECR & ePrivacy
The UK's Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations govern the use of cookies and similar tracking technologies. Many publishers are not fully aware of their PECR obligations - particularly following the ICO's updated enforcement position. We make sure every publisher in our network is fully compliant and audit-ready.
Grey-area content? We assess, not assume.
Many content-rich sites are declined by major ad networks not because of genuine harm, but because automated policies flag anything that touches copyright grey areas - aggregators, curated media, fan communities. We take a more considered approach: assess each publisher individually and find advertisers who are a genuine fit. There is a real market for this inventory. It just needs a human hand, not an algorithm.
No gambling. No adult content.
We do not accept gambling advertisers or adult content sites - as publishers or as advertisers. This is both a regulatory position and a values one. We want the advertising ecosystem we build to be one that publishers are proud to be part of and that readers trust.
Our privacy philosophy
Contextual over behavioural
Advertising should match relevant ads to relevant content - not follow individual users around the internet. Contextual targeting delivers strong results without compromising the privacy of the people who see the ads.
Consent that means something
Dark patterns and pre-ticked boxes are not consent. Regulators are increasingly taking action against them. We implement CMPs that are genuinely compliant and treat users with respect - even if that means slightly lower consent rates.
First-party data as an asset
The death of the third-party cookie is an opportunity. Publishers with genuinely engaged audiences have a first-party data relationship with their readers that is extremely valuable. We help publishers leverage that asset ethically and in full compliance with data protection law.
Why we focus on niche publishers
A site with 400,000 highly engaged monthly readers all passionate about the same specialist subject is an extraordinary advertising asset. The audience is self-selected, knowledgeable, and receptive to relevant advertising in a way that a general-interest audience rarely is.
Mainstream ad networks are built around scale. A site with 400,000 monthly readers in a specialist vertical doesn't fit their model - they may reject it outright, or route it to low-quality programmatic fill that damages the publisher's brand. We do the opposite: we treat niche as a strength and find advertising partners who genuinely want to reach that audience.
Some of the publishers we work with operate in content areas that mainstream networks decline automatically - aggregators, curated media, grey-area copyright content, fan communities. We assess them properly, understand what they contain and who reads them, and match them with advertisers who are willing and well-suited to advertise there. The inventory exists. The audience is real. It simply requires more thought than a policy engine can offer.
Average ad revenue increase for new publisher partners in year one
Recovery rate of lost impressions after cookieless migration
Of our publisher partners are fully GDPR and UK PECR compliant
Gambling or adult content advertisers, ever
Do you qualify?
We are selective about who we work with - that's what makes the network valuable. Here's what we look for.
High-value audience
We prioritise sites with audiences in the US, UK, and EU - the markets where premium CPMs are achievable. Geographic spread matters.
Strong CPM potential
We work best with publishers who can command or grow into higher CPMs - typically specialist content with an engaged, returning readership rather than viral traffic.
Video-ready (preferred)
Sites capable of running video ad units are strongly preferred - video inventory consistently commands the highest CPMs across all categories.
Genuine, consistent traffic
We look for real, recurring audiences. Spike-driven or bot-heavy traffic doesn't serve our advertisers and we will find it in audit.
No pornography or adult content
We do not accept publishers in the adult content space - as a matter of both policy and values.
No gambling sites
Gambling publishers are not part of our network, regardless of licensing status. This is a firm line.
Not sure if you qualify? Drop Eli a line - we assess every site individually and we're straightforward about whether we think we can help.
The regulatory landscape is tightening. We help you get ahead of it.
The ICO and EU supervisory authorities are now issuing substantial fines to publishers and ad tech companies who have not taken their obligations seriously. The wait-and-see approach is over.
The ePrivacy Regulation - still working through EU legislative process - will tighten consent requirements further and curtail the ability to rely on legitimate interest for tracking. Publishers without privacy-compliant infrastructure will face increasingly difficult choices.
In the UK, cookie-based behavioural advertising that does not rest on freely-given, informed, specific, and unambiguous consent is legally precarious. The ICO's enforcement position makes this clear.
We help publishers build advertising infrastructure that is compliant today and designed to remain compliant as the landscape evolves - cookieless-ready stacks, proper consent management, regular compliance reviews, and advertising partners who hold themselves to the same standards we do.
Our Team
The people behind Private By Design
Kevin
CEO & Founder
Lenny
Head of Publisher Partnerships
Eli
Publisher Acquisitions Manager
Ready to talk about your site?
We work with a limited number of publisher partners at any one time. If you think your site could be a fit, we'd love to hear from you.
Partner With UsContact us
London, England, N1 7GU